15 TCU Presents . . . 08: Tinkle Star – Tamil Comics Magazine

Dear ComiRades,

Welcome Back. It’s been very, very long time since we introduced Tamil Comics & Graphic Novels related to Tamil. So, we take this opportunity to revive this series with the wonderful news that the 2nd volume of the Tinkle Star is out on stands from Yesterday onwards, Officially.

For those who came in late, Tinkle Magazine is spreading its wings in regional languages and that precisely is the reason behind the launch of 2 regional language editions, Hindi and Tamil. Though these magazines were launched in December itself, the respective second issues were made available yesterday only. Let us get into the post with some sample images and details.

Tinkle Star 01: Dec 2014

Through Friends (Distributors, Translators etc) we were informed in November itself that Tinkle is coming out with a Tamil Magazine. So, the eagerness to see the issue was increasing day by day and on the 1st of Dec 2014, we saw the 1st ever issue of Tinkle in Tamil. It was priced as INR 25/- and for a 80 Multi colour Page book, it was a steal. The size was also so compact that TCU liked the format and design of the book instantly.

TCU was informed that there was an Advertisement proclaiming the launch of Tinkle Stars was placed in The Hindu News paper. Unfortunately yours truly couldn’t find the one & was still wondering how it was informed to the readers.

Of course there were some constraints and issues with respect to Translation and printing (and let’s talk about that in the later part of the post), the issue was more closer to the one for which we were yearning for so long. Here is the editorial of the first issue:

The Book was stacked with comics stories and they were categorised into three segments:

• Tinkle Stars (Suppandi, Shikari Shambu, Kalia The Crow, Tantri the Mantri, Pyare Lal etc)
• Tinkle Stories (Folk Tales, regional submissions from readers, award winning stories etc)
• Filler Segment (Spot the differences, Tinkle Q & A, Do it Yourself)

Here are some of the sample pages from issue 1 (Copyright: ACK Media)

Tinkle Stars Tamil Regional Issue No 1 Dated 01-12-2014 Cover	Tinkle Stars Issue No 1 Dated 01122014 Index Page No 03
Tinkle Stars Issue 1 Dated 01122014 Suppandi Story Page No 10	Tinkle Stars Issue No 1 Dated 01122014 Tantri The Mantri Page 26
Tinkle Stars Issue 1 Dated 01122014 Find Differences Page No 35	Tinkle Stars Issue 1 Dated 01122014 Pyare Lal Story Page No 64
Tinkle Stars No 1 01122014 Shikari Shambu Story Page No 73	Tinkle Stars Issue No 1 Dated 01122014 Editorial Page No 04

Tinkle Stars 02: March 2015

After the launch of the first issue, there was not much of communication from the publisher. In certain important shops in Chennai, these books were made available only from Christmas onwards, thereby hampering the possibility of making some noise. Even in the much sought after Annual extravaganza called Chennai Book Fair, the visibility of the Tamil variant was minimal, to say the least.

Even after that, there was not much information. Though TCU has learnt that the second issue will be irrespective of the sales outcome of the same. Because even while printing the first issue, the second one was also printed. It was only a matter of time before the second one was made available for sales & that particular day happens to be Yesterday, the first of March.

Tinkle Stars – Tamil Regional Issue No 2 Dated 01-03-2015	Tinkle Stars Issue No 2 Dated 01032015 Index Page No 03
Tinkle Stars Issue No 2 Dated 01032015 Editorial Page No 04	Tinkle Stars Issue No 2 Dated 01032015 Suppandi Page No 30
Tinkle Stars No 2 Dated 01032015 Find the Differences Page  71	Tinkle Stars No 2 Dated 01032015 Kalia The Crow Page No 74
Tinkle Stars Issue No 2 Dated 01032015 FolkTale Page No 75	Tinkle Stars Issue No 2 Dated 01032015 DIY Page No 80

Now that we have seen at least 2 issues of the Tamil variant, here are the pros & cons of these 2 issues:

Strengths:

• Fantastic Independent Stories (Like the Ruskin Bond Story in 2nd Book)
• Established Stars such as Suppandi, Kalia, Shambu & Pyare Lal make it a sought after book
• The Packaging & designing of the issues are near perfect. Especially the printing, which is awesome
• The point that it is available in Major railway stations & popular book shops (Thanks to Higginbotham's)
• The price of INR 25/- is a steal when you consider that we have 80 fantabulous pages.
• The Translation was not a speed breaker, Thanks to the already established Translators of ACK Media

Weakness:

• The Tagline in the Cover design was laughable. Especially the the way the words were merely translated & thereby reviving the popular phrase “Junoon Tamil” which was used to mention the Google style robotic translation, without knowing what is what in Tamil. This can be done by an 8th standard student & we don’t require an editorial set up for this.
• It that was a joke, then the translation for “Special attraction” as சிறப்பு கவன ஈர்ப்பு was what? Am searching for words. And believe me, these where on the cover in both the issues. If the Editor has to be credited for the success, then in this case, the Editor has to be blamed for this faux pas.
• There was no mention about the periodicity about the issue. At no place it was mentioned that whether it was a monthly or quarterly of anything else.
• The Mail id & contact number in both books were, to say the least, a Joke. If Giving a Mumbai local number For a Tamil Magazine was a crime, then what can be said about giving the mail id in Tamil? (That was caused by the basic amateur error of Typing in English in a Tamil Keyboard).
• Lots of Spelling mistakes, Punctuation errors and other silly stuff through out the book.
• There was no info about the book anywhere. If there is any Marketing strategy involved, then it has to be somewhere in Mars or Moon or otherwise in Pakistan. Yours truly has not seen any promotional or information about the launch or availability of these books.
• The Same Index Format & Editorial page repeating in the second issue as well (Not to mention the mail id fiasco as well).
• Lack of awareness on the editorial front about the characters. All the Tinkle stars were already established in Tamil through the magician named VanduMama in 1984 itself. For the next 10 odd years, these characters were household names in the Tamil speaking homes. Consider the wonderful & aptly rhyming names of Tinkle stars:
• Kalia the Crow – Kakkai Kaali (காக்கை காளி)
• Tantri The Mantri – Thandhirakkaara Mandhiri (தந்திரக்கார மந்திரி)
• Shikari Shambu – Vettaikkara Vembu (வேட்டைக்கார வேம்பு)
• These names were much easier to follow and already established. A Mere Google search would have helped. However, consider the Grammatically flawed names chosen by the Publisher:
• Kalia The Crow – kaagam kaaliya (காகம் காலியா) in Tamil, the Name must always be காளி & Not காலியா, even if to name if fully, it must have been காளியா only and not as given.
• Tantri the Mantri – Thandhiri engira Mandhiri (Again an error prone naming). The actual meaning of the character inspired by Iznogoud is Mantri is a Tantri. However the meaning of the trranslated name is Tantri also known as Mantri.
• Shikari Shambu – Am tired. Shall we pass? Anyway, lets make it the last one. So here it goes. Shikari is not a Tamil word at all. When you have a wonderful word called வேட்டைக்காரன் in Tamil, why would you forcibly insert a word from Hindi lexicon?

Hoping that ACK Media & the editorial staff take a note from the above and make sure that the third issue has none of these amateurish errors. The ideal thing would be to appoint someone like N. Chockan or Athisha or someone like Kiruthika as the consultant and then go ahead. Remember, it is not a cell phone or any other product that you are selling here. It is a Tamil Magazine & it becomes a must to have a Tamilian in the Board and Not somebody who knows Tamil.

All the very best, ACK Media. i know that very soon you will achieve the print run vs the sales figure break even, even though the current ratio is 1:5. Well, that’s all for this post and  As usual, post your comments in the comments section. For those who want to Pen their thoughts in Tamil, Kindly Use the Option Provided in the Widget section or Click Here.

Thanks & Regards, 
King Viswa.